D-day's beachhead for freedom

Whatever the reasons for which we seem to need to dispatch our young men to war on our behalf, there certainly was no greater and just cause than the 1939-45 conflict. Sixty years on since the D-day landings, it is indeed commendable to remember those young men who sacrificed their lives for the freedom we take for granted today (D-day supplement, June 4).

Even now, at 87, my thoughts go right back to before WW2, when, as a naïve lad seeking adventure, and with the impediments of an Irish origin to overcome, I ventured to London to join the RAF. In those days we were paid the princely sum of 10s a week, for which we were expected to serve, and if necessary to die, also in defence of the British empire.

During a bombing raid in 1940, I met and later married a Lambeth girl, Private Ivy Taylor, conscripted into the British army. In August 1944 her luck ran out and she was buried in bombed buildings. She was dug out of the debris badly injured, but died later of her injuries at just 33.

Needless to say, there still exists within me an everlasting feeling of sadness that I did not deserve to survive those devastating experiences and horrors - only to be left with the burden of the loss of so many friends, comrades and relatives. In April 1944, my brother, Andrew, also serving in the RAF, was killed and has no grave but that of the North Sea. May they rest in peace, all of those that died at war. But may we also remember the continuing plight of many elderly disabled war veterans. D Curran Thornton Heath, Surrey

Above the beach at Ouistreham, simple stones commemorate Commandant Keifer and his French commandos, who fell taking out the German battery overlooking the beach, to open the way for the invasion. We have heard this week of British, American, even German veterans, but not a word about French soldiers who participated in their country's liberation.Charles Pottins Ruislip, Middx

So far I have seen little reference to the people of Normandy. I first went to Caen on a school exchange in 1948, when everybody was still traumatised by the destruction of the city. Since then I have been back many times and have found the older generation still talk about D-day and its aftermath as if it were only yesterday. They welcomed their liberation, but at what a price.Judy Stowe London

German feelings about defeat in 1945 were complex (Germany has moved on, June 4). It's true Hitler had commanded great levels of support, but his was a terror regime where you had to be careful what you said. By 1945 there was an overwhelming war weariness. People were saying: "Better a horrible ending than a horror without end." If British people want to understand modern Germany, it's crucial to be aware that with defeat came an enormous disillusion about Hitler and Nazism.

The lesson of defeat was that aggressive war and dictatorship had terrible results, to others and themselves. I don't know enough about the east, because my German family lived in the west after the war, but I'm certain that was why the Bonn democracy was such an impressive success. And why postwar Germany has had so many conscientious objectors.Leslie Wilson Reading, Berks

While fully recognising the bravery and heroism of all those who took part in the Normandy landings, the most momentous and decisive battles of the war took place at Moscow, Leningrad, Stalingrad, Minsk and the great tank battle at Kursk. At the time of the landings, Soviet forces were on the borders of Poland. The war cost the Soviet forces and civilians some 21 million lives; the allied and Commonwealth casualties numbered about half a million.Harry Bramson London

You ridicule George Bush for his belief the second world war began with Pearl Harbor. But in saying this will be "news to Poles" you commit a similar error. The UK declared war on Germany in response to Hitler's invasion of Poland, but this was not the beginning of the war. I write these words in Brno, a city into which the German tanks rolled several months earlier. John Stalker Brno, Czech Republic

I landed on Gold Beach with the 1st Hampshires at H+20 minutes on D-day. There were no media people on on the beaches while I was there (Letters, June 4). I assumed it was because every place was needed for those who were going to fight. The first time the media made its presence felt was on D+2 days, when a sign appeared on the front of the best hotel in Bayeux, the Lion d'Or, saying "Press only". That rankled at the time. It still does. Sidney Vines Salisbury, Wilts

This weekend, as we remember the many young men who died, would it not be a fitting tribute that our leaders who might be contemplating another war go to a large war cemetery and contemplate the reality of war? Kevin Greenan London

It is beyond irony that even a small section of the British electorate will happily support a fascist, racist organisation four days after commemorating D-day. Stephen Smith Feckenham, Worcs